GOP Jewish group slams Dems over platform debate on Israel

WASHINGTON, June 21 (UPI) -- A Republican Jewish group has produced new online ads for the presidential campaign, seeking to portray Democrats as anti-Israel.

The ads come as representatives for both presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders clash over platform language being drafted for the Democratic convention.

Clinton has largely represented the more centrist wing of the Democratic Party, which holds out nearly unqualified support for the Israeli government while the party's more liberal wing, represented by Sanders, has said Israel is "occupying" Palestinian territory.

Sanders' representatives on the platform committee, including academic Cornell West and Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., the first Muslim-American elected to Congress, have argued Democrats must acknowledge the role Israel is playing by sanctioning new housing projects many see as land grabs, and by enforcing economic sanctions on Palestinians in Gaza.

The online ad, produced by the Republican Jewish Coalition, highlights those positions, but appears to tie Clinton to them, rather than Sanders. The ads show West and Ellison speaking, then it says, "Sadly this isn't the old Democratic Party. It's today's Democratic Party." The ad ends with a picture of John F. Kennedy, then cuts to a photo of Clinton.

A spokesman for the National Jewish Democratic Council told The Hill that Republicans are happy to attack Democrats to draw attention away from their own presumptive nominee, Donald Trump.

"We understand why they don't want to be defending their racist, sexist and bigoted candidate who peddles in anti-Semitic tropes, but notice how they don't even mention Hillary Clinton's actual record," the group said.